The Super Gene
by papapapeppa
Summary: Avery Stark was the daughter of the infamous Tony Stark and the lovely Pepper Potts, raised by a "family" of freaks that went around saving the world. She, however, was for the most part normal...until one day her insistence that her dad let her use the suit - just once - to fly wound up getting her tangled up in the "family" business: saving the world.
1. A Brilliant Idea

**Summary: Avery Stark was the daughter of the infamous Tony Stark and the lovely Pepper Potts, raised by a "family" of freaks that went around saving the world. She, however, was for the most part normal...until one day her insistence that her dad let her use the suit - just once - to fly wound up getting her tangled up in the "family" business: saving the world.**

**Sorry this chapter is so short - they will be longer!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

Avery Stark sipped her diet coke thoughtfully and stared out at the skyline of New York. She felt at her best when she was sitting on the roof of the Avengers tower, high above it all. Sure, she loved the city. She loved the hustle and bustle, and adored the city from the Upper East Side to the rats in the subway. She was, and would always be, a New Yorker. There was just something about being eye level with the tip of the Chrysler building (her favorite in Manhattan) and getting a birds eye view of everything that made her feel better, somehow.

Avery sat her coke down carefully and lied down on her back, watching a small black bird flit around. She was so envious of it. At any time it wanted, it could take off. Go to a new place. Start a new adventure. Of course, she supposed, birds didn't have that kind of thought process, but she remained ever envious of the ability. Not that she wasn't happy with her life. She had it damn good, and she knew it. She had been born and raised with not only a brother, mother, and father, but seven "uncles" and four "aunts". The majority of whom all lived in the same tower as her. She was born to a family with money, opportunity, privelege, status, brains, and a whole hell of a lot of love.

But at seventeen, Avery was starting to feel the need to branch off. Try things on her own. Her whole life she had been watching her dad fly away, go off into battle. He always came back - she didn't worry nearly as much as she did when she was little - battered and bruised, but looking alive and exhilarated. Her mother would kiss him like she couldn't posisbly love him more, and he would tell them all about how he saved the world.

Maybe Avery didn't want to go into battle, but she did want _something_. Maybe not even anything dangerous. Just something. A new city, maybe. Time to herself, or a new person to get to know. She didn't really care - just so long as it was different, and new, and exciting.

"Hey, this is my spot," a slightly dismayed voice came from behind her.

Avery turned slightly and smiled. "Oh, hey Uncle Clint," she greeted easily. "Sorry, I thought you and Aunt Tasha were out somewhere."

"Uh-huh," Clint said skeptically. He took a seat with his legs dangling over the edge of the tower, and began to use his bow to shoot paper airplanes out over the city. "So what brings you up here?"

Avery shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back on her elbows, gesturing widely to the skyline.

Clint gave a little chuckle. "Mirror mirror on the wall, you are your father after all."

Avery smirked and ran a hand through her flaming red hair. "I wish. He gets to go out and explore it. The only time I get to take to the skies, I'm in a plane," the bird fluttered by, singing happily and her eyes followed it. "It's not the same."

Clint waved a hand. "Flying's kinda overrated."

Avery studied her uncle's profile for a moment as he continued to shoot airplanes and her smirk grew. "Anyone ever tell you you're a horrible liar, Robin Hood?"

Clint lauughed and launched another plane, the both of them watching it soar into the early morning air before he replied. "I used to lie for a living, kid. I still do."

Avery took another sip of her coke and laughed lightly. "Well you're doing a bang-up job right now, I can tell you that much."

Clint turned and and aimed an airplane in her direction, which she caught with ease. "Okay, flying's awesome. Truly awesome. Nothing comes close. I was trying to spare your teenage feelings."

"Don't," Avery said simply. She drained what was left in her can and then crushed it against the concrete. "I know it's gotta be amazing."

Clint shot the teen a sympathetic smile. "I'd take you if I could, kiddo. Unfortunately with all the ways I've ever flown, your parents would kill me."

Avery sighed, picked up her crushed can, and stood, brushing off her legs and shorts. "I know, I know. You'd think a group of superheroes who have seen a hell of a lot worse than a little innocent flying wouldn't be such worriers."

"Maybe that's exactly why they're such worriers," Clint suggested, giving Avery a pointed look.

She glared at him. "Don't go all philosopher on me, Artemis."

Clint gave her a look of mock offense. "Oh come on. You could of gone with Apollo. At least he's a dude."

"Then I chose the right one!" Avery called over her shoulder as she went back inside the building.

* * *

Avery got in the elevator and started to press the button for the room her floor was in, and then stopped herself. "Hey, JARVIS?"

_"Yes, Miss Avery?"_ the AI responded promptly over the elevator's intercom.

"Where's my dad?" Avery leaned against the wall of the elevator, chewing on her lip in thought.

_"Mr. Stark is currently in his lab, ma'am," _ JARVIS informed her.

Avery nodded, processing. "How good of a mood is he in?"

The robot took a moment ro respond, and then said, _"He appears to be in a quite pleasant mood this morning. He is whistling. Off-key, I might add."_

Avery laughed. Sometimes she felt like JARVIS got her humor better than anyone else in the tower. "Alright, thanks." She pushed the button for the ground floor and sucked in a breath. Her idea was probably dumb. There was a very high chance that it would never work. But she had to try.


	2. Like Father, Like Daughter

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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Avery was, on the outside, her mother's child. She was slim, tall, and had shining grey-blue eyes. Her father's brown hair and her mother's strawberry blonde had fused together to give her thick, fiery red hair. She was pale, freckled, and had delicate features. No one had ever asked if she belonged to her mother or vice versa when they were out together. Her heart, however, was a different story.

It was her older brother - Tyler - who took after their mother in personality. He was prim and tidy and smart and organized and orderly and Avery's opposite in every way. They got along, and they loved each other, but Avery's soul was identical to her father's. When they were children, if Tyler tidied something, Avery made sure to make a mess just to spite him. She was impulsive. Loud. Reckless. Easily bored. And always, always stir-crazy. She went through boyfriends the way some people go through socks. She had many friends, but she would bail in an instant if she thought more fun could be had elsewhere. She wasn't a mean person. Not cruel or hurtful. But life to Avery Stark was about the adventure.

Which was what brought her down to her dad's lab to interrupt his work time. She poked her head in cautiously - one must always beware of projectiles in a Stark lab - and called over the AC/DC playing, "Hey, Dad."

The music turned itself down - she'd have to thank JARVIS later for that - and Tony turned around to look at his daughter. "Oh, hey kiddo. What brings you down to the lair?"  
Avery shrugged like she didn't really know. "I just came down to say hey. I feel like I haven't seen you all week."

Tony gave Avery a small but warm side smile. "I know. I'm sorry. I think your mom is planning something for us to do as a family tomorrow."

Avery nodded slowly and took her time meandering towards the back of the lab where the suits were kept.

Tony got a knowing look in his eyes and crossed his arms. "Except that's not what you came down here to say, so why don't you just spit it out?"

Avery ran her hand over the glass protecting a red and gold suit with a transparent circle in the center. "How stable was the Mark III?"

Tony furrowed his brow and scratched the back of his head. "The suit or the reactor?"

Avery shrugged again and looked back at her dad briefly. "Both. Either."

Tony picked up his scotch and sipped it before setting it back down on his desk and making his way to where his daughter was standing. "The arc reactor almost killed me," he told Avery. He paused at a spill on the floor and muttered, "Hey, Dummy, clean that up, will you?" When the bot was on its way with a rag, he continued. "That was back when I the palladium core."

Avery cast her father a unsure look. "Aren't palladium compounds -"

"Highly toxic and carcinogenic? Yes, yes they are," Tony finished for her. Now it was his turn to shrug his shoulders. "We got around it. Eventually. I just invented a new element. Vibranium. Well," he lifted a hand slightly and made a face. "Technically your grandpa invented it. He just left it carefully hidden in a map for me to synthesize."

Avery arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know," Tony said simply.

Avery smirked and looked back at the glass. "And the suit?"

"Suit was fine. Did it's job. Got higher than the Mark II. Fixed the icing problem and made it okay for high altitudes with a pressurized helmet, figured out a way to get JARVIS in the suit with me, visual read outs. Oh, and I fixed the Mark II's power problem through those battery pack things you see in the hips there. Titanium gold alloy, coated in something that's pretty damn close to Kevlar just...tiny, and invisible."

Avery nodded, processing. "Sounds like quite the suit," she almost whispered.

"Alright, my turn," Tony said abruptly, shaking Avery out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"Why the sudden interest?" Tony pressed.

"It's not sudden," Avery said a bit defensively.

Tony gave her a skeptical look. "Oh, so, you've always been interested in suits that were built before your mom and I were even a thing. Back when the Avengers Initiative was just something SHIELD was kicking around."

Avery ignored him and continued to eye the suit. "You should let me fly it."

"F-fly it?" Tony sputtered back at her. "I'm sorry, did you just say that I should let you fly it?"

Avery nodded enthusiastically. "Come on, Dad. I just asked you for the specs and you didn't give me any real safety issues. It's not like I'm asking to fly the Mark I," she reasoned, gesturing to the clunky silver suit at the end of the line.

Tony liked his lips and looked up at the ceiling in thought. He lowered his voice and locked eyes with his daughter. "Do you know how much shit you could potentially get away with?"

"Dad," Avery rolled her eyes, frustrated.

"No, seriously, hear me out here. You could get away with damn near anything. You can do what you want, and the one thing you ask me to do is fly?" Tony looked at her seriously. "I'm sorry Avery, but that's the one thing I can't do." He began walking back to his desk.

"It isn't even dangerous!" Avery protested.

Tony stopped and held up his hand, painting confusion on his face. He scratched the inside of his ear as if he was clearing it out, and then said, "I'm sorry, what was that? Because it kind of sounded like you said that it wasn't dangerous." His volume had increased slightly.

"It's not!" Avery said louder than she had meant to.

Tony gave her a look of angry disbelief. "It's not dangerous for my daughter to zip through the skies of New York looking like Iron Man?" his volume continued to rise, coming dangerously close to full out yelling. "It's not dangerous for you to go out there looking like me when the world is going nuts, and I've had six battles this week, and there are people who want to kill me? You tell me, Avery, what part of that sounds safe to you?"

"It wouldn't be like that, dad!" Avery matched him decibel for decibel. "They would know it was an old suit! Yours haven't looked like that in a long time!"

Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly. "The suit wouldn't even fit you!"

"Yes it would! You aren't listening to me!" Avery cried desperately.

Tony spread his arms. "My bad, I didn't know we were the same size now. You don''t have an arc reactor to even power the suit. It's. Not. Happening."

"Dad, I fixed that!" Avery shouted louder than ever.

Tony stopped, breathing a bit heavily and looked at her. "You what?"

"I fixed that," Avery said quietly. "I invented something."

Tony regarded his daughter carefully, and then crossed his arms. "Alright, you have my attention."

Avery opened her mouth and then closed it, suddenly dubious. "It's a suit," she said finally. "A suit that goes under the suit."

"What kind of suit are we talking?"

"It's padded with gel inserts that mimic muscles to bulk me up so I fit in the suit," Aver explained. "Then it's lined with an industrial strength silicone to prevent slippage against the suit. And it's lined with cashmere."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

Avery shrugged. "For comfort."

Tony pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. "Uh-huh. And ah," he picked up his drink and took another sip, taking time for a bit of a dramatic pause. "How did you solve the problem of the arc reactor?"

"That's the best part," Avery's eyes twinkled. "Because the outside of my suit is coated with such thick silicone, electrical impulses can travel over me without me getting electrocuted All we have to do is some simple rewiring. Which, if you recall, is remarkably simple on the Mark III."

Tony nodded, his expression wavering somewhere between uncertain and proud. "I do seem to recall that, yeah."

Avery waited.

Tony swirled the ice in his drink and set it back down on his desk. "I'm not saying yes."

Avery grinned. "Of course not."

"And if your mom catches wind of this, we're both dead," Tony told her seriously. "So not a word. To anyone. Got it?"

"Scouts honor," Avery said.

"You were never a scout," Tony pointed out.

"Semantics," Avery quipped.

Tony chuckled. "Hey, JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir?" the AI responded politely.

"You catch any of this?" he asked.

"If Mrs. Stark asks, I have heard nothing about it, sir," JARVIS replied.

"Alright," Tony said quietly, sounding pleased. "Go get your suit. Let's see what we can do."

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	3. Having a Stark to Stark

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Now we're getting into real chapters.**

* * *

Avery crept down the stairs to her father's lab as quietly as possible. It wasn't so much that sound carried in the tower, as much as that it's occupants had uncanny hearing. If she so much as tripped down a step, she would probably get Thor at her side in an instant, questioning why she had fallen in his booming voice.

Avery entered the necessary pins and scans to unlock the door and walked in. She clapped her hands lightly - just loud enough to wake the sensors - and the lights flickered on.

Dummy clicked and whirred at her from the back corner, disturbed.

Avery held up a finger to her lips and made a light "shh"-ing sound, and the bot fell silent. She surveyed the room, her grey-blue eyes scanning over everything. She took note of the perfect disarray that her dad always left things in. Her mom had once told her that Avery was the only one who managed to understand his organizing system. She took stock of the glass pods along the glass wall, proudly displaying every suit from the Mark I through the present day.

The comprehensive history of Iron Man.

Avery grinned and bit her lip, walking carefully to the back of the lab, her bare feet making soft noises on the floor. She sat down on the floor in front of the semi circle, crossed her legs, and perched her elbows on her knees, leaning forward in awe as she stared up at them. There had always been an element of wonder to Avery when it came to the suits. These were the objects that her dad had built with his bare hands, but had transformed into so much more than that. They were weapons. Life preservers. Fun. The key to clean energy. They revolutionized everything.

She never could grasp why Tyler had no interest in them. Tyler had always acted as if the Avengers didn't even exist. He devoted every ounce of himself to being "normal". But that was never something she was interested in. Why be ordinary - why the hell would you ever blend in - when you could be so much more? The way she saw it, all the components were in place for something good to happen. There was too much potential sitting in front of her. Too many opportunities. Too much money. Too much power. Too much force. Hell, she had science and magic. No, her chips had always been on her making something of her life. There was too much there not to.

And Avery knew that didn't even necessarily mean the suits. She couldn't explain why she was so drawn to them. It was just...like a magnet.

Ha. Haha.

"Hey, JARVIS?" Avery whispered.

"Yes, Miss Avery?" the computer responded quietly.

"What are my chances of getting into this stuff?" she asked.

"Not good," the AI told her almost sadly. "Your father's security parameters do not currently allow access by anyone other than him."

Avery nodded. "Kinda figured." She fell silent again and continued to stare. As much as she was a child born on the coattails of adventure, at that moment - with the city that never sleeps' muffled noises coming from outside, and still silence throughout the tower as everyone slept peacefully, and being surrounded by potential - she couldn't think of a place she would rather be.

"You know, I remember when my dad used to come down late at night and catch me in his lab," a voice from behind her interrupted her thoughts.

Avery jumped and twisted around to see who had managed to sneak up on her.  
Tony smirked from the doorway and came the rest of the way into the lab. "I would sneak down when I couldn't sleep or, well, just didn't want to," he told her, sitting down in his desk chair and pulling his knees up to his chest. "I always thought that it would be the time he didn't catch me...it never was."

Avery smiled sheepishly. "I just..." she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.  
"Oh, I know," Tony reassured her. "Trust me. I know." He looked at her for a moment, and then a warm smile spread slowly across his face. "God, you are so much like me," he told her quietly.

Avery looked back at her dad. "So...I'm screwed."

Tony laughed (it always made Avery feel good when she really got her dad to laugh, it seemed like all anyone else got was a chuckle). "Pretty much, yeah," he agreed easily, grinning.

Avery laughed right along with him. These were the moments she knew she'd always remember.

"But no, in all seriousness, I think you've already got a better head on your shoulders than I did," Tony tilted his head back to stretch his neck, staring at the ceiling. "It must be from your mom. You sure as hell didn't get it from me."

Avery turned the rest of the way around and copied her dad's pose, resting her head on her knees. "What did grandpa do when he caught you?"

Tony continued to stare upwards, and then directed his answer to the ceiling as if he was still in his memory. "He would just kind of stand there and watch me for a minute, usually," he said. "And then he'd usually make me go back to bed, where I'd just stay up for hours trying to figure out what everything I had just laid eyes on did. There were a couple of times though where he let me stay up and work with him. Those were my favorites."

Avery smiled. "I remember when I was little and you caught me down here. We used to practice hammering."

Tony chuckled and brought his head back up. "Yeah, yeah. Hindsight says it probably wasn't the smartest move to give a child a nail and a hammer, but you weren't bad at it. You were pretty solid."

"And now I'm building suits," Avery tagged on.

"And now you're building suits," Tony echoed, rubbing his face a bit tiredly. "Listen...I think we need to talk about that."

Avery's expression fell. "You're not going to let me actually fly it, are you?"

Tony sighed and held up his hand. "That's not what I said."

"Then you will let me fly it?" Avery looked at Tony expectantly. When she got no answer she continued. "You're either letting me do it, or you're not and this has all just been a little project. It's not a middle of the road issue."

Tony stared back at her for a moment, thinking. "I'm letting you do it," he said finally. He held up his hand again to cut off any chance at celebration that Avery had and continued. "But there's a few things I need you to understand first, okay? Conditions, if you will."

"And if I won't?"

"Believe me, you will."

Avery sat back and allowed him to continue.

Tony put his feet on the floor, put his elbows on his knees, leaned forward, and rubbed his hands together. He looked over the line of suits, cleared his throat, and looked at his daughter. "Right now, as we speak, the world is going nuts," he told her in a serious and soft tone. "Now more than ever, the Avengers are needed multiple times every week. I've seen flurries of activity similar to this before but...I don't know Av, something about it feels different. Your mother and I have had whole discussions about it, but ah...I'm not telling you to freak you out. I'm telling you so that you know that just because you have the ability to fly doesn't mean you're conspicuous. We have a lot of enemies. And Iron Man looks like Iron Man. You won't be leaving the city. You won't be out for extended amounts of time. You'll never be out at dark. Do you kinda see a pattern here?"

"Don't be dumb," Avery supplied.

Tony gave her a thumbs up. "Right," he reached out and tousled her hair. "Don't make me regret sending my kid out there, alright?"

Avery nodded and smiled. "I'll try."

Tony scoffed "Like hell you'll try. You don't have a choice. I'm not losing my daughter to a whim."

* * *

The next morning Avery yawned and padded down the steps from her room into the kitchen.

Pepper looked over with surprise etched into every feature. She set down the coffee pot halfway through the cup she was pouring, and pointedly checked her wristwatch. "What on earth are you doing up before seven on a weekend?"

Avery grumbled something and raked a hand through her long hair, wishing she could provide a good answer. But she figured telling her mom that she was up early to put the finishing touches on her suit and then go learn how to fly probably wasn't for the best, so she said nothing.

Steve peeked above the newspaper he was reading while he was reading and arched an eyebrow at her. "You're never up until eleven at least. Usually you and you dad wake from the dead just in time to salvage the afternoon."

"And considering your dad is already up..." Pepper squinted her eyes and finished pouring her cup, and then nestled the pot gently back in its holder, tapping the side of her cup lightly. She took a seat at the table across from Steve and looked at Avery.

Avery wordlessly shoved her head in the refrigerator and began rooting around for breakfast.

Pepper and Steve exchanged a look.

Tony chose that moment to come into the kitchen, loudly beginning to ask, "Hey kiddo are you ready to...fly?" His voice came out choked on the last word as his eyes landed on Pepper.

Pepper's smile fell. "W-what?"

Avery debated between pulling her head out or attempting to decapitate herself with the fridge door. She decided on the former.

"Okay, don't freak out," Tony began.

"Don't, don't freak out?" Pepper set her cup down with a shaking hand and looked back up at Tony. "You just accidentally let it slip that you were going to teach our daughter how to fly without talking to me, and you don't want me to freak out?" Her tone was one of disbelief, and her voice sounded half-gone, but calm. For the moment.

"See, that sounds eerily like the beginning of a freak out," Tony pointed out.

Pepper closed her eyes. "What would she be flying in? Like is it some sort of plane? Please tell me it's not a suit. Because if it's a suit..."

"Uh," Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You know what, yes, it's a plane."

"Except it's not," Pepper's eyes popped open again. "And I know it's not, and what the _hell_ were you thinking?!"

"Alright, yeah, that's my cue to go," Steve said, standing up from the table and tucking the paper under his arm before exiting to the balcony.

"I was thinking that she's allowed to be curious about the suits, and that they are, you know, part of her lineage," Tony explained calmly. "Besides, you've gotten to fly with me."

Avery's head snapped to look at her mother.

Pepper gritted her teeth. "That was different. You were saving my life."

Tony opened his mouth, closed it, and then threw up his hands. "Okay. But she has some great ideas for these things. You should hear some of them."

Pepper pressed a thin hand to her forehead and attempted to take a deep breath. "It doesn't matter, Tony, because it's not safe out there for her."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's safe. The Iron Man suit is arguably one of the safest places she could be!" Tony replied quickly. "It's bulletproof, Pepper."

Pepper didn't say anything for a moment, but took deep, shaking breaths.

It seemed like an overreaction to Avery.

When Pepper did finally speak, it was in a sort of deathly calm. She locked eyes with her husband. "You know what's going on out there right now," she said slowly and clearly.

"Wait," Avery spoke up for the first time since entering the kitchen. "What's going on out there right now?"

"Avery," Pepper kept her same calm tone, her eyes never leaving Tony's. "Go to your room."

"Mom," Avery insisted, worry and curiosity mixing within her voice to form a stronger tone. "What's going on out there right now?"

"Avery, _go to your room_," Pepper repeated, her voice rising slightly.

Avery looked from her mom to her dad.

Tony nodded and motioned out the door.

Avery's jaw tensed and she walked tensely out of the room. She walked to the stairs and climbed halfway up them before making exactly enough heavy footsteps to convince her parents that she was upstairs. Then she turned around and crept back down, hiding just out of sight on the other side of the wall.

"It's not safe out there right now, Tony," Pepper was saying adamantly. "God only knows the six of you are having enough trouble stemming the flow as is, do you really think we need our teenage daughter flying around in all of that?!"

"You're making it sound like I'm sending her out on suicide missions," Tony snapped back. "Teaching the kid to fly is a hell of a lot different than enlisting her."

"But you might as well be!" Pepper shot back. There was the _clang_ of something ceramic - probably the coffee cup that she had already drained - being put down forcefully in the metal sink. "If she's out there flying around, she'll get wrapped up in it."

Tony sighed. "It's an old suit, Pepper," he said exasperatedly.

There was a beat of still, taught silence, and then Pepper's voice came again, this time quiet and watery. "I can't risk losing my daughter to them," she explained. "It's bad enough I have to watch you fly off into it every night, I can't watch Avery go too."

There was another pause, and then the shuffle of slipper-ed feat across the tile. Presumably Tony going over to Pepper. "I know. I'm sorry. But she wouldn't get involved. It would just be simple day-stuff. A quick spin around the block, totally incognito."

"Okay," Pepper whispered.

Avery peeked around the barrier, and saw her mother and father with their arms wrapped around each other tighter than usual. In fact, her mom had her face buried into her dad's neck, with one hand practically glued between his shoulder blades, and the other was splayed across the back of his head, holding onto him for dear life. She was hanging onto him like she would never see him again.

The unnerving part was that her father was holding her the same way.

"I just need you both to stay here with me, okay?" Pepper whispered. "Please be careful. Neither of you can leave me here without you. Always come back."

Tony cleared the lump in his throat. "I made that promise a long time ago, Pep. I'll keep it."

Avery ducked back around and slowly made her way to her room.

_What the hell was going on?_

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**Please review! I'd really appreciate it.**


	4. What You Don't Know Can Still Hurt You

**Sorry this chapter is so short. It didn't blend well into anything, and I needed it to be emphasized. I'll post again tonight.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

Avery stepped out onto the balcony and slowly closed the sliding door shut behind her, stepping out into the early summer air. May in Manhattan was always one of her favorite times of the year. It managed to be warmer than spring, but before the sweltering heat of true summer set in. She leaned back against the doors and looked out.

Steve folded his paper down again to see who had come outside. An uneasy look passed over his face, but he quickly fixed his expression. "Oh, hi Avery," he greeted. He was used to being cornered by Starks, but the only one who didn't still make him nervous was Pepper.

"Hey Uncle Steve," Avery replied easily. "Can I sit?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Steve pushed the seat across from him out with his foot. "Go right ahead."

Avery took a seat, and then continued to stare out at the city. She eyed the Chrysler building. She had seen photos from back when the Avengers fought their first battle. Her Uncle Thor had clung to it and conducted lightning through the whole damn thing. She had seen the grittiest photos and footage about the Battle of New York; heard the most intense stories. She had heard her parents talk about how it ended (her mom still got upset remembering it). They had allowed her to know everything about that battle, and every battle since then. If they were cutting her out of the loop this time...it had to be something very, very bad.

"Sorry you got caught in that," Avery said, shooting her uncle an apologetic smile.  
Steve turned the page of his paper. "Oh, don't worry about it. If I got upset every time I got caught between your parents fighting, I would have moved out a long time ago." He didn't lower the paper.

"Still," Avery pressed on. "It felt different, somehow."

There was a pause. "How so?"

"I don't know, usually my mom just comes out and says why she's angry. This time she kicked me out before she got there," Avery mused "And she said something like, 'you know what's going on out there right now'. Sounds like more than a problem with flying, don'cha think?"

Steve cleared his throat. "Uh, I don't know. I mean I'm sure your mom has her reasons. Flying can be very risky."

Avery nodded as if she understood. "I guess. Still, I can't help but feel like there's something...more. Maybe even something Avenger's related."

Steve's hand froze at the corner of the page. Slowly, he closed the paper, folded it in half, and set it on the corner of the table. He rubbed a hand wearily at his hairline. "Avery, if you have a question, ask it."

"What isn't everyone telling me?" Avery locked eyes with him.

Steve looked away. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"Uncle Steve...whatever this is...it made my mom cry just thinking about it," Avery explained seriously. "My parents were hanging onto each other like they were never going to see each other again. Like today was their last day together. If this...whatever this is...is going to take one of my parents away from me, I deserve to know."

Steve looked back at her and held her eye contact. He wished he could tell her it was nothing. He wished he could tell her that her dad wasn't in danger. But he couldn't lie to her. His jaw clenched. "I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"What's happening?"

"I can't tell you."

"What's SHIELD planning?"

Steve stood up and looked out at the city. "It's not SHIELD " he told her somberly, glancing down at her. "The one thing I can tell you is that it's a whole hell of a lot bigger than them."

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	5. Perfectly Perturbed and Panicked Pepper

**Here's the other half. Sorry it's late! Heads up: there will be chapters with no Avery. It's necessary. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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Pepper took a seat next to Tony on the couch and pulled her legs up underneath her, looking over her husband. He still had a bruise on his neck and stitches on his left cheekbone from his last battle. They served as constant reminders to Pepper that worse things were headed their way; he was right in the line of fire.

"You're staring," Tony murmured, not looking up from his tablet.

"At you," Pepper said softly.

"A good choice," Tony tapped a few things on the screen and then wiped them away. "I'm much prettier than the television."

Pepper laughed and rolled her eyes. "Nice. Way to ruin it."

Tony looked over and grinned. "You like that one?"

"It was good, yeah."

"Thought you would appreciate it," Tony cleared his screen and then set the tablet down on the coffee table, turning to Pepper. He propped his elbow up on the top of the couch and leaned his hand on his fist. "You look..."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Perturbed," Tony finished. "Anxious. Unsettled."

Pepper rubbed her hands on her thighs. "I am...all of those things. Yes."

Tony eyed her. "I'll be okay," he said easily, looking away to mask his concern.

"Don't do that, Tony," Pepper sighed. "We can talk about this."

He looked back at her abruptly. "And do what, Pep? Freak out? Plan my funeral?" he shifted so that his hands were clasped in front of him and leaned in. "If we give in..." he started in a serious and quiet tone. "If they get our fear...they've already won. They've already won."

"Tony," Pepper began.

"No. Ah," Tony cut her off. "Listen to me. I plan to be around for an obnoxious amount of time. By the time I die, you and everyone else will be sick of me. Until such time that my heart stops beating and this," he tapped the glowing arc reactor in his chest. "Goes out, we're not even going to act like me dying is a possibility."

Pepper nodded, and then took his hands, rubbing her thumb over his and looking down. "I just don't want to lose you," she told him. "I mean I've always worried, but...it never seemed like it was as real a possibility as it does right now." She looked up and locked eyes with him. "This," she gestured around the room with one hand and then returned it to his. "Is our life. Not Iron Man. It's our kids, and our friends, and our family, and each other...and I am terrified that the last time I see you you will be A) too soon, and B) with you in the suit."

Tony squeezed one of Pepper's hands. "That's not going to happen."

"You can't know that," Pepper whispered, her blue eyes filling with tears yet again. She felt like she had cried more in the past month than in her whole life time. It was wearing on her.

"I can know that. I do know that. Would you like to know how I know that I know that?"

"How?"

"Because, I've done a lot of stupid things in my life. A lot," Tony explained. "You would know. You've cleaned up several of them."

Pepper had to nod, conceding his point.

"I have survived getting blown up, shot at, shoved through walls, falling out of airplanes, off of balconies, into pools, and into the ocean. I survived getting held captive in Afghanistan. I have a magnet in my chest delicately keeping shrapnel from burying itself in my heart and killing me like it was supposed to a long time ago. I flew with a nuke into space, survived that blast, had my suit and my life support go out on me, fell back through a worm hole just before it shut for good, fell from the sky onto a street, and all it took to wake me up was a good scream from our green friend," Tony's eyes searched Peppers and he smiled faintly. "I'm invincible. It's going to take a hell of a lot more than these morons to kill me off."

"Oh Tony..." Pepper shook her head.

"Hey, hey," Tony scooted closer on the couch and put one hand on her face, brushing away a stray tear with his thumb. "It's okay, alright? You're not getting rid of me. Not nearly that easily."

Pepper locked eyes with him again, and then pressed her lips hard against his. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and kept one of her hands in his hair. She gave him a second, slower, lighter kiss, and then buried her face in his neck, minding his bruise. She inhaled him. She tried to commit all of it to memory: his feel, his touch, his smell, the way his face looked staring back into hers. Because as sure as he seemed to be that he wasn't going to die, Pepper was never a betting woman, and had watched him almost die too many times, and she wasn't taking any chances.

Tony rubbed her back and kissed the side of her head. "I love you, Pepper. Okay? Just...hang onto that."

"Don't leave me."

"I'll never leave you."

"Promise?"

"Swear."

"I love you too."

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	6. Learning the Red and Gold Ropes

**Things are heating up...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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"No, hands out more. Flat and out. Like a penguin."

Avery gave her father an odd look, but obliged, keeping her arms close to her sides - or as close as her body suit would allow her to - and thrust her palms out as flat as she could. A muscle spasm-ed in her forearm and she sloped her hands down more to ease the tension.

"Yeah, no, you can keep them like that, that's fine," Tony assured her. "It'll work just as well. But don't go any further down than that. You get the repulsors any closer to your body and it'll throw off the aerodynamics. Won't burn you, but you'll regret doing it."  
Avery nodded and relaxed her hands. "What do I do with the rest of me?"

"Uh," Tony thought for a moment. He had never had to teach this to someone. He had learned the best flying positions through a very painful process of trial and error. "Just keep your head up and your body straight. Not too tense, but you can't really relax either. Well, unless you hit a good air current, but you won't be up that high."

Avery took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. She couldn't believe she was actually getting to do this. It seemed to good to be true. But, then again, many things seemed to good to be true in her world. She learned a long time ago to just accept things.

"Alright, then," Tony clapped his hands together. "You ready to try on the suit?"

Avery grinned as an answer, and walked over to the middle of the lab where her dad always put on his armor.

Tony chuckled. "Going to go ahead and take that as a yes. Okay, just step up onto that little platform and put your feet on the blue dots."

Avery looked over it, stepped up, and carefully positioned her feet directly over the glowing blue sensors in the pad.

"Good," Tony told her. "Okay, now lift your arms straight out to the side. Like a T. And look straight ahead."

Avery positioned herself accordingly.

Tony circled the pad once to make sure everything was in it's proper place, and then nodded and took a step back. "Okay," he said with a soft tone to his voice. "JARVIS, suit the lady up."

JARVIS had no reply, but the machines around her sprang to life, pulling pieces of the suit seemingly out of nowhere. She was tempted to look down and watch as she felt the boots close and lock around her feet, but she didn't.

Piece by piece, Avery felt the suit begin to close around her. She heard metal slide and lock, as well as screws going into place. Even through her heavily padded muscle suit, she could feel the coolness of the metal around her. It was exhilarating. She felt excitement burn in her stomach, and she reminded herself to breathe deeply. The helmet enclosed around her head, and she beamed just soon enough for her dad to catch it before the front of the helmet locked shut.

Tony felt an inner part of himself cringe as he watched his daughter's grinning, happy face be replaced with the cold, titanium, intimidating one of Iron Man. Pepper's warnings ran through his head, and he wondered if it was too late to yank her out of the suit, sit her on the couch, and force her to eat animal crackers and watch Sesame Street until she realized she was still five.

Or at least that she still was in Tony's mind.

Bruce walked in behind Tony, carrying a box filled with various electronic components and wires. His eyebrows rose, but his expression remained mild. "You're actually letting her suit up, huh?"

The thing in Tony's chest twinged again "Yeah. Just for a quick spin around the block. Harmless," he told his friend. He wished he was half as confident as he sounded.

Bruce walked up next to him, seemingly analyzing him closer than he was Avery. "Harmless," he repeated in his calm voice. He turned his attention to the suit, looking it over.

Avery struck a few body builder poses for her audience. "How do I look?" she asked over the suit's intercom.

"Like a man," Bruce said chuckling.

Avery went to make a hand gesture, but stopped herself. There was a pause. "Uncle Bruce, I just want you to know that I'm giving you one hell of a dirty look right now."

Bruce chuckled softly, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at Tony. "I'd expect nothing less, coming from a Stark."

Tony glanced at him."I resent that," he looked back at the suit. "She gets that from Pepper."

"Pepper never gives me dirty looks."

"Pepper likes you."

Bruce turned his attention back to the teen, who waited patiently through the exchange. "You look good. Your body suit looks like it's doing its job."

Avery smiled, even though she knew they couldn't see. "Thank you."

"Okay, now for the first test," Tony said sitting down in his desk chair. "Brucey, feel free to stick around and watch this. It'll be funny." He leaned back in his chair. "Now, try to walk in it."

Avery hesitantly picked one foot up, surprised at how far up it came. She was expecting it to be heavy. "Oh," she said lightly.

"Titanium-gold alloy, remember?" Tony said with a smirk. "Now, the things that make this thing able to fly also make it a bit...different where walking is concerned. You may not be streamlined and aerodynamic, but the suit is. Go ahead, take a lap."

Cautiously, Avery stepped off of the platform, almost feeling like she was floating. She wouldn't have ever expected the suit to be this...airy. Light. The first few steps she took were shaky, with her overcompensating on behalf of the suit. But by the time she made it back to her starting point, she had more or less gotten the hang of it. She felt good. Really good.

Tony exchanged an approving look with Bruce, and then turned back to his kid. "Okay, now look around. Find something. Ask JARVIS a question about it. Don't stop asking questions until you're sure you couldn't possibly know more about that object."

Avery looked around the room, searching for something suitable - and something that she would know enough about to follow what JARVIS was saying. Finally, her eyes settled on an orange perched on top of the box that her uncle had carried in.

_That'll do_.

"Hey, JARVIS?" Avery began slowly.

"_Yes, Miss Avery_?" JARVIS replied inside of the helmet.

He was louder than she was used to. She would have to get used to having him right there with her. "How far away is that orange?"

JARVIS locked onto the fruit. "_Exactly 21.35 feet away from you_."

"Awesome. Height?"

"_Four inche_s." A ruler appeared.

"Weight?"

"_2.5 ounces_." Alternate measurements in centimeters and millimeters came with it.

"What's it made of?"

"_The orange is composed of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, citric acid, deoxyribonucleic acid, oxygen, and phosphorous_."

Avery watched in wonder as the diagram of an orange appeared in front of the real one, along with a segment, all labeled. "My orange has DNA?"

"_Yes, ma'am_."

"Gross," Avery made a face. "Where was it grown?"

"_It appears to have originated from the Indian River County in Florida_."

"How good are the oranges from there?"

"_Growers in the region claim their oranges to be the best in the world. They are widely used and consumed around the world_." His breakdown came with a bio of the region to the right of her view.

"Sweet," Avery whispered.

"_The oranges are known for that, yes_," JARVIS replied cheekily.

Avery laughed and looked back at her dad, clearing the screen. "This thing is amazing."

Tony had an unreadable expression on his face. Part of it was pride...in her, she thought...but there was another, darker emotion that twisted it. "I know. I built it."

Avery looked at the gloved hand in front of her, turning it over. "Can I fly it now?"

Tony looked from her (who looked a whole lot like him at the moment, which was unnerving), to Bruce (who nodded and gave him a reassuring smile - he was sure he knew), and back again. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It fits okay?"

"It fits perfect," Avery insisted, her voice a bit amplified by the suit.

"Do the hands."

Avery mimicked the pose perfectly.

"Shoot something."

Avery blinked at her dad from behind the mask. "What?"

"Shoot something," Tony urged. "Use the repulsors. Shoot the orange."

Avery looked at her uncle.

Bruce sighed and threw up his hand half-heartedly.

Avery walked over and moved the box to the floor, and then balanced the orange on the table. She walked across the lab, made sure she had a clean shot, and willed the repulsor to fire.

It was a strange sensation. Like nothing she had ever felt before. She felt the energy within the suit travel up over her arm, and gather at her palm. Before her eyes, the beam shot out from her palm - the recoil made her take a step back - and hit the orange dead on. The orange flew off the table and hit the wall with a sickening _splat_.

The three of them sat there in silence for a moment, staring at the ruined fruit.

The urgent click of high heels came skittering across the ceiling above them, and sounded rapidly as they descended the stairs. An panicked looking Pepper ran into view, quickly entered the pass code, and ripped open the door. She looked from Avery in the suit, to Tony, to Bruce, to the splattered orange on the wall and floor, to Avery, and landed on Tony again. "What the hell is going on down here?!" she all but shrieked.

"I'm just trying out the suit, mom," Avery tried to explain.

Pepper raised a hand to cut her off, never taking her eyes off of Tony. "So you had her shoot something?" she deadpanned breathlessly. "In. The. House."

"I just -"

"My bad," Avery interrupted her dad. "That was my fault. It was an accident. I'll be more careful next time."

Pepper analyzed Avery carefully, taking deep breaths, and then nodded. She rubbed her forehead. "Are you taking off?"

Avery looked to her dad for an answer.

"I don't see why not," Tony replied after a moment.

"Then come here," Pepper said, spreading her arms and walking toward Avery. She wrapped her daughter in a hug (attempting to ignore the bad memories that this particular suit conjured up). She stepped back and tapped on the front of the helmet. "Flip this up, I want to see your face."

Avery rolled her eyes, but obeyed.

"There," Pepper smiled at her, running her hand lightly over her cheek. "There's my girl," she said in a whisper. "You come home safe, okay? Just a quick fly, and then you come back to me. Okay? Please."

Avery gave her mom a funny look. "I don't have any intentions of going anywhere else."

Pepper attempted to give her a lighthearted smile, but didn't get all the way there. "I know. I love you Avie."

Avery patted her mom's shoulder. "I love you too, mom."

Pepper gave her the same smile and stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself almost defensively.

Tony looked at Pepper and tried to send her a reassuring smile, then turned back to Avery.

Even Bruce looked at her wearily

Nervous tension erupted in Avery's stomach. She didn't like the way everyone was looking at her. Was flying really that dangerous? She pushed the thought down - they were just being parents. And non-related uncles. It was their job to worry.

Tony stood up. "Okay," he hit a button and the side of the lab opened up to reveal a patio outside. "Let's go see what you can do."

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